Dr. Vandertramp – French Perfect Tense Lesson Plan

Identify the seventeen French verbs that take etre as a helping verb in the passe compose, using the Vandertramp mnemonic

Conjugate etre-plus-past-participle correctly for a given subject pronoun and verb

Apply past-participle gender and number agreement when the helping verb is etre

Transcribe spoken etre-passe-compose sentences correctly from dictation

Introduce the Vandertramp chart and mnemonic before the story worksheets so students recognize the target verb list on sight.

Have students complete the blank story worksheet first, then self-check against the fully conjugated version before moving to the subject-varied second worksheet.

Use the dictee as a culminating listening-and-writing check, and review the included Corrige to highlight common past-participle agreement errors.

Vandertramp verb recall — students identify and recall the seventeen etre-taking verbs using the mnemonic acronym.

Passe compose conjugation with etre — students conjugate story verbs such as 'je suis sorti' and 'elle est nee' for different subjects.

Past-participle agreement — students apply gender/number agreement rules (e.g., 'vous etes rentree' vs. 'ils sont revenus') when the helping verb is etre.

Dictation transcription — students write out spoken etre-passe-compose sentences for a range of subject pronouns and genders.